It was a lot.
“Okay, there’s the character sheet, quests, titles, class, skills, and settings,” Jack read aloud.
He pulled up his character sheet again, just to make sure the stats he got from the boots had been applied.
Satisfied, he flipped over to the next tab in his system menus. There were a variety of grayed-out subsections, namely for class, skill, sidequest, and world quests. But there was one that was only for him—the unique quest tab, which was the only one that currently contained a quest.
╔══════════════════════════════╗
║ QUEST OBJECTIVES ║
╠══════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ? Discover the secret fortress ║
║ of the orcs within the ║
║ nearby voidlands. [0/1] ║
║ ║
║ ? Kill a majority of the Orc Army [4/350] ║
║ ║
║ ? Slay the Orc General Flakerash [0/1] ║
║ ║
╚══════════════════════════════╝
╔══════════════════════════════╗
║ QUEST REWARDS ║
╠══════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ? Legendary Item ║
║ ║
║ ? 200,000 EXP ║
║ ║
║ ? 1,000 Gold ║
║ ║
║ ? Player Unique Skill ║
║ ║
╚══════════════════════════════╝
Even though he’d leveled up, he rechecked the quest difficulty, just to be sure.
[Quest Difficulty: INFERNAL]
Looking at the kill count for the orc army, he noticed it had only gone up by two since he first checked this quest. That irked him, as he’d done the lion’s share in killing that sorcerer at the end of their fight, but it did give him an important clue as to how EXP was distributed in this world.
“You’ve got to get the final blow to earn the points,” he realized.
Jack leaned back, placing his hands into the soft, tall grass, enjoying the grounding sensation it brought with it.
“I mean, that would explain why all those knights were shoving each other out of the way to kill orcs. It was chaos. But if that’s the only way to get levels, I can see why they were so cutthroat,” he pondered aloud.
Overhead, a bird with green wings cawed loudly. It was a melancholic shriek, and Jack gazed upward to make sure he wasn’t about to get dive-bombed by another one of Aethros’s ‘delights.’ The bird continued on its way, though Jack did spot quite a few storm clouds coming down from the north.
Returning his attention to the quests tab, he deduced that once he unlocked his class, he’d have a variety of quests to help him master it, as well as farm some more EXP. It was pretty typical in a system like this, though he couldn’t help but wonder why this magic system was so eerily similar to the games he’d played back on Earth. From the organization, the EXP stealing, down to even the existence of knights and orcs and ballistae.
It was all too much of a coincidence, and screamed of another problem he’d need to solve if he wanted to make it out of here.
That would have to wait. First, he needed to understand more.
“Quests down, now let’s check out those titles,” Jack decided.
He pulled his system menu back up and toggled over to the next tab. This one was even more bare-bones. He could see a single slot for an equippable title, and then a long, mostly empty, scrolling list for titles.
Except he only had one title.
[Title: Banisher]
[+75% damage against all corrupted entities]
[+15% all stats when inside any corrupted zone. ]
[+15% charisma effectiveness with allied personnel]
[+10% all stats]
Jack was speechless. Those boosts were insanely powerful. The boost to his stats while in the shroud would allow him to hit far beyond his level, multiplied by the damage he’d do against all corrupted entities! That meant that his strength and dexterity would be increased, which would then let him hit even harder once the 75% damage modifier kicked in.
He also appreciated the irony of the final benefit of equipping this title. For previous Banishers, it might’ve been a serious boon, but for him, it was nothing more than a sick joke.
There was no one currently allied with Jack the Banisher.
Olric might’ve counted before, but Jack had royally screwed that up by exploding on him and then leaving.
With long glances in either direction up and down the road, Jack made sure he was alone. When he was absolutely certain, he used his finger to tap on the title and slid it up into the equippable slot.
The moment he released his finger, it snapped into place, and he felt a shock of power explode from his chest. This was accompanied by a small, but not insignificant, plume of golden dust in the air. His eyes shot upward, and he could just barely see two words floating above his head now.
[The Banisher]
He immediately unequipped it.
There would be a time to test it out when he was well within the shroud, but he had no doubt in his mind that Olric had told him the truth. The Banisher would be killed on sight. For now, he would remain as Jack the Mechanic.
When the title was removed, he felt oddly hollow, like he’d just betrayed someone. Jack wasn’t sure what to do with that knowledge.
Taking a deep breath, he flipped to the next tab. “Class.”
This entire tab was grayed out, save for a single phrase.
[Reach level 10 to unlock your class selection.]
“Alright. Don’t be useful, then,” Jack muttered, and flipped to the next tab. “Show me something good, skills.”
He was not disappointed.
SKILLS:
- Sword Mastery: Level 1
- Rank: Novice
- Pugilism: Level 3
- Rank: Novice
- Blunt Weapon Mastery: Level 1
- Rank: Novice
- Relentless Spirit: Level 1
- Rank: Novice
- Cleansing Light: Level 0
- Rank: Novice
- Inspect: Level 3
- Rank: Novice
- Soul Fusion: Level 0
- Rank: Novice
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Jack pressed on the first skill, Sword Mastery, and a pop-up page flared to life, mostly obscuring the previous screen. Information scrolled to life in neat white script across this new page, and he started to smile.
Finally.
Answers.
// ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════
// Sword Mastery: Level 1
// ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════
? Rank: Novice
? Description:
Become one with your blade, training your body and soul to
unite with the weapon all warriors must master, should they
seek the highest echelons of power and legend.
? Effect:
→ Mildly increase proficiency with any bladed weapon longer
than a dagger.
→ 5% increase in learning sword techniques.
? Attribute Cost: N/A
? Cooldown: N/A
Jack was astounded at the details he now had at his fingertips. Feeling more excited, he opened and read through every single one.
// ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════
// Pugilism: Level 3
// ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════
? Rank: Novice
? Description:
Master the brutal art of close-quarters combat, turning your
fists into weapons and your body into a living fortress.
Dedication to technique will sharpen your strikes and deepen
your understanding of unarmed battle.
? Effect:
→ Moderately increase proficiency with unarmed combat.
→ 7% increase in learning hand-to-hand techniques.
? Attribute Cost: N/A
? Cooldown: N/A
// ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════
// Blunt Weapon Mastery: Level 1
// ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════
? Rank: Novice
? Description:
Learn to wield the crushing force of maces, hammers, and clubs—
weapons that care nothing for armor or finesse. Through
relentless practice, your swings will grow more devastating
and your technique more refined.
? Effect:
→ Mildly increase proficiency with any blunt weapon.
→ 5% increase in learning blunt weapon techniques.
? Attribute Cost: N/A
? Cooldown: N/A
// ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════
// Relentless Spirit: Level 1
// ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════
? Rank: Novice
? Description:
When death comes knocking, rage answers the door. In the
throes of mortal injury, your body refuses to yield, drawing
on reserves of strength and endurance that should not exist.
Your will is steel. Your survival is worth any cost.
? Effect:
→ When mortally wounded, gain +50% to Resilience and Strength.
→ Effect ends when healed above a critical threshold or after 1 hour.
? Attribute Cost: N/A
? Cooldown: N/A (try not to overuse this one...)
// ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════
// Cleansing Light: Level 0
// ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════
? Rank: Novice
? Description:
Channel the purifying radiance of the Banisher to scour
corruption from tainted lands and twisted souls. This power
answers only to the call of sacred duty—bound to quests and tasks
that demand its use.
Let go to find the light.
? Effect:
→ Cleanse corrupted zones during Banisher-specific quests.
→ Purge lingering darkness from afflicted areas.
? Attribute Cost: 10 Constitution + 10 Resilience + 10 Strength
? Cooldown: 24 hours
// ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════
// Inspect: Level 3
// ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════
? Rank: Novice
? Description:
Peer beyond the veil of the mundane to glimpse the truth
hidden within people, objects, and creatures. As your mastery
grows, so too does the depth of what you perceive—secrets
reveal themselves to those who know where to look.
? Effect:
→ Reveal basic information about a target.
→ Higher levels unlock detailed attributes and hidden secrets.
? Attribute Cost: 1 Perception
? Cooldown: N/A
Jack paused when he reached the last skill listed. He wasn’t sure how to feel when pulling up its information. It was so wrapped up in bitter disappointment that it took him nearly a full minute before he actually read the words on the screen. When he did, he knew his life was never going to be the same.
// ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════
// Soul Fusion: Level 0
// ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════
? Rank: Novice
? Description:
Consume an item’s essence, unraveling its very existence to
forge a new skill from its remnants. Rarity, function, and
enchantments shape the power born from destruction. Once
initiated, there is no turning back—the item is lost forever,
and only soulless objects may be sacrificed.
? Effect:
→ Absorb a single item to gain a skill based on its collective properties.
→ Skill power scales with item rarity and enchantments.
→ Item must not contain a soul.
→ Skill effect is irreversible.
? Attribute Cost: 25 Strength + 25 Resilience + 20 Constitution
? Cooldown: 48 hours
Jack stared up at the sky.
“How in the HELL is this a bad skill?!” he demanded.
Sure, it wasn’t Respawn Point, which sounded utterly broken. But this was still a divine-quality skill, and it sounded like it had limitless potential. Based on what Olric had hinted at and the fact that he’d unlocked skills just by performing tasks, that meant that there wasn’t a limit to how many skills he could possess. Or, if there was a limit, it had to be fairly high, or everybody either to be super diligent in their life experiences lest they hit that invisible cap too early in life.
No. Unless this system was absolutely bugged out, he didn’t have a limit.
That meant that so long as he could get his hands on some decent items with higher quality ratings and even some enchantments, he could have all sorts of powerful and bizarre skills.
Still, he blanched when he saw the cost.
“Those stat costs are insane!” he choked out.
Granted, he didn’t have a great frame of reference for how many stats people gained, but that still had to be a lot. He did some quick mental math.
“If I keep getting five free attribute points per level, I’d need to hit level 10 before I could have enough stats to cast this once. And that’s with some pretty narrow concentration on just these three stats,” Jack realized.
He supposed it made a certain amount of sense. Level 10 seemed to be the first real milestone required by this system. Hit that, and a whole new world was opened up to you. Still, despite the hefty cost of the skill, he could see why it was so powerful, even if Steward had called it the worst, not to mention it was the only black tile on that ominous wheel of fortune.
He had a goal now. An impossibly difficult goal, but at least he could name it. Know it. And with that knowledge, it was finally an achievable goal.
“Nothing for it but to get started, then,” Jack said, standing up and stretching out his lower back.
His eyes roamed between the road leading to Thistlebrush and the one leading back to Olric’s farm. Then he remembered one phrase in one of his skills. He quickly pulled it up and read it aloud.
“Master the brutal art of close-quarters combat, turning your fists into weapons and your body into a living fortress. Dedication to technique will sharpen your strikes and deepen your understanding of unarmed battle,” Jack said, an idea forming in his mind.
He quickly backed up off the road and traversed through the tall grass until he was largely hidden by the gentle sway of the chest-high greenery. Once he was fairly certain no one could see him, He used his new boots to press out a mid-sized circle of the grass. He took off his shirt, and rolled it up. Setting it aside, he began to stretch out his chest, shoulders, and legs.
The movements felt so familiar, he almost wanted to cry. Jack’s entire world had been upended. He was in a new place, a new body, and had the beginnings of real magic at his fingertips. He knew that this might be a total waste of time, but he had to be certain. More importantly, he justified this delay from going to get some sidequests as a good stress reliever.
It was time to practice his boxing.
Warmed up, Jack got into a low stance, paying careful attention to his footing, how he adjusted his balance, and the exact placement of his elbows and fists. Tucking his chin, he jabbed out at half-speed. The movement felt good, but slightly clunky and awkward. He tried again, putting every bit of his focus into the right technique. Once his jab felt both correct and natural, he switched to his cross.
He repeated the process, quickly building up a sweat.
Once his two most basic punches felt right, he picked up the speed. Within a minute, he was sweating profusely, but loving every instant of it. He moved throughout the circle, switching his lead feet every few seconds so as to not get sloppy or predictable.
[Congratulations! Through effort, your skill, Pugilism, has leveled up!]
[Pugilism: Level 3?4. Rank: Novice]
Jack let out a whoop, but then got right back into it. He felt like he was onto something. He picked the pace back up, incorporating elbow strikes now. Then knees. When he kicked out his first roundhouse, he got another notification.
[Congratulations! Through effort, your skill, Pugilism, has leveled up!]
[Pugilism: Level 4?5. Rank: Novice]
He sagged to the ground, and the dew lingering from the morning soaked into his trousers. He didn’t care. He knelt there, breathing heavily but grinning so much it hurt.
“Finally,” he whispered as he drank in more oxygen by the lungful. “Finally.”
Jack had figured something out about the system. It wanted him to focus on his technique and improve upon it? Done. It rewarded effort?
He would milk it for all its worth. No one worked harder than he did, and he was about to prove that.
The mechanic rose to his feet and rolled out his neck. “Let’s try that again. This time, faster.”